Eudicots
'' pollen has three colpi.}} The eudicots, Eudicotidae or eudicotyledons are a of s that had been called tricolpates or non- dicots by previous authors. The botanical terms were introduced in 1991 by evolutionary botanist and paleobotanist Carol L. Hotton to emphasize the later evolutionary divergence of tricolpate from earlier, less specialized, dicots. The close relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains was initially seen in morphological studies of . These plants have a distinct trait in their pollen grains of exhibiting three colpi or grooves paralleling the polar axis. Later evidence confirmed the genetic basis for the evolutionary relationships among flowering plants with tricolpate pollen grains and dicotyledonous traits. The term means "true dicotyledons", as it contains the majority of plants that have been considered dicots and have of the dicots. The term "eudicots" has subsequently been widely adopted in to refer to one of the two largest clades of s (constituting over 70% of the angiosperm species), being the other. The remaining angiosperms include and what are sometimes referred to as or paleodicots, but these terms have not been widely or consistently adopted, as they do not refer to a group. The other name for the eudicots is tricolpates, a name which refers to the grooved structure of the . Members of the group have tricolpate pollen, or forms derived from it. These pollens have three or more pores set in furrows called colpi. In contrast, most of the other (that is the , the monocots and the paleodicots) produce monosulcate pollen, with a single pore set in a differently oriented groove called the sulcus. The name "tricolpates" is preferred by some botanists to avoid confusion with the dicots, a nonmonophyletic group. Numerous familiar plants are eudicots, including many common food plants, trees, and ornamentals. Some common and familiar eudicots include members of the such as the common , the , and other members of , , , , and . Most leafy trees of midlatitudes also belong to eudicots, with notable exceptions being magnolias and tulip trees which belong to , and , which is not an . The name "eudicots" (plural) is used in the , of 1998, and , of 2003, for classification of angiosperms. It is applied to a , a monophyletic group, which includes most of the (former) dicots. "Tricolpate" is a synonym for the " " group, the "true " (which are distinguished from all other flowering plants by their tricolpate structure). The number of furrows or pores helps classify the s, with having three (tricolpate), and other groups having one . Pollen s are any modification of the wall of the pollen grain. These modifications include thinning, ridges and pores, they serve as an exit for the pollen contents and allow shrinking and swelling of the grain caused by changes in moisture content. The elongated apertures/ furrows in the pollen grain are called colpi (singular colpus), which, along with pores, are a chief criterion for identifying the pollen classes. Phylogenetic tree |1= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Takhtajan ex Cronquist 1981 |2= Takhtajan ex Reveal 1996 |label2= |2= Takhtajan ex Reveal 1992 |2= de Candolle ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |label2= |2= von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |label2= |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Link 1829 |2= Link 1829 |2= von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 }} }} |2= Bromhead 1838 |2= von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Engler 1892 }} }} }} }} }} |label2=Malvids |sublabel2=(eurosids II) |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 }} |2= Takhtajan ex Reveal 1993 |2= Doweld 2001 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Doweld 2001 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Bromhead 1838 }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} |label3= |3= Doweld 2001 |2= Brown ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= |label2= |2= Link 1829 |2= von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= Van Tieghem 1900 |2= Takhtajan 1997 |2= Mart. 1835 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |3= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 |4= Doweld 2001 |5= Bromhead 1838 }} }} }} }} |label2=Campanulids |sublabel2=(euasterids II) |2= Senft 1856 |2= Mart. 1835 |2= Link 1829 |3= Dumortier 1829 |2= Nakai 1930 |2= Takhtajan ex Reveal 1992 |2= de Jussieu ex von Berchtold & Presl 1820 }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} }} References Category:Tree of life